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Saturday,
February 15, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Admn woos
Dalits to return Sugarcane
supply to mill affected Cong flays NDA govt on MSP Panel to
identify monuments for preservation Teachers withdraw stir |
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Bar
association flays police action
Shiv Saniks fail to dampen love mood 5
prisoners escape, probe ordered 7.22-cr
education scheme launched Govt staff
protest on March 2 
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Admn woos Dalits to return Kaithal, February 14 Addressing mediapersons at his camp office, he said the initial relief would be provided by the Red Cross as the actual loss could only be assessed when the affected families returned to the village. He said the affected families were camping at the local Geeta Bhavan and were being provided food and other facilities by voluntary organisations like the Seva Sangh, the Barfani Seva Mandal and the Mahavir Jan Kalyan Trust. Replying to a question, Mr Agarwal said some Jat families were looking after animals of the Dalit community in the village. Mr A.S. Chawla, SP, who was also present on this occasion, said nine persons had been arrested in connection with the incident and Sub-Inspector Sumer Chand, in charge of the Titram police post, suspended for the dereliction of duty. Mr Chawla said there was no loss of life due to the presence of the police in the village on the fateful day. On the other hand, Dalits camping at Geeta Bhavan said the conditions were not favourable for them to return to the village as only nine, out of 80 persons named by them, had been arrested. Members of the Harsola Sangharsh Samiti, headed by Mr Jogi Ram, a former MLA, has demanded that the cattle, being looked after by members of the Jat community in the village, be returned to their Dalit owners. Some members of the Samiti also demanded that officials present at Titram police post on that day be booked under Section 120B as they had allegedly connived with members of the community which attacked the Dalits and damaged their property. The Dalits have said that were not being provided help by the administration and they were being looked after by voluntary organisations. Meanwhile, Mr Ranbir Prasher, convener, Intellectual Cell, Haryana Vikas Party in a statement issued here today, expressed concern over the clash and appealed to the all to beware of political parties responsible for promoting casteism and communalism in society. |
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Sugarcane
supply to mill affected Yamunanagar, February 14 Leaders of the samiti are demanding the same sugarcane price as is being given to the co-operative sugar mills of the state by the government. They stated if the government could bear this loss, then why should the farmers of Yamunanagar district, whose livelihood is dependent on this crop, suffer? They said if the government did not accept their demand, they would be forced to launch an agitation. The leaders of the samiti are working day and night to ensure the success of the agitation. On the contrary, most of the farmers want to send sugarcane to the local mill. There are a number of cane collection centres of the Saraswati Sugar Mill in the region. The agitation has, however, adversely affected the supply of sugarcane to the mill. Farmers held a procession today which concluded at the gate of the mill. The leaders of the samiti demanded that their demand should be accepted without delay. Various leaders of the samiti, including Mr Shamsher Singh, state president of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Mr Khilla Ram, district president, and Mr Rattan Singh president of the samiti, addressed the farmers and threatened that if their
demands were not accepted by February 18, then two leaders of the samiti would observe a fast in front of the mill gate. Mr Rajinder Singh, local Superintendent of Police, confirmed that a few incidents of stoppage of tractor-trolleys had been brought to the notice of the police. He said last evening, a few farmers forcibly stopped a tractor-trolley of Shiv Kumar of Dholra village. The tractor-trolley was damaged and the farmers also thrashed Shiv Kumar. The police had registered a case. He said the police had been deployed near the mill to ensure peace and supply of sugarcane to the mill. Mr V.K. Sachdeva, Executive Director of the mill, confirmed that crushing had been going on smoothly. He said the mill started crushing on December 7, 2002, and by now 83.2 lakh quintals of cane had been crushed. He also said that at present 70,000 quintals of sugarcane was available with the mill authorities. Mr Sachdeva said the mill was paying the statutory minimum price of Rs 87.54 per quintal of cane as per the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and payments had already been made to the farmers for their supplies. |
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Cong flays NDA govt on MSP Chandigarh, February 14 The Leader of Opposition, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who described the drought relief of Rs 10 per quintal of wheat as a peanut, alleged that the Centre was able to ignore the interests of the farmers because Mr Chautala stood on his false prestige and considered below his dignity to meet the Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Ajit Singh, or the Chairman of the Agriculture Prices Commission to present the farmers’ case for enhancing the MSP before it was announced. Mr Hooda said Mr Chautala’s statement that he would meet the Prime Minister after the announcement of the MSP was meaningless. The Congress leader alleged that Mr Chautala was adopting a dual policy in regard to farmers of Uttar Pradesh and those of Haryana. While the INLD leader went out of his way to support the cause of the
U.P. farmers, he adopted coercive methods to silence the agitating farmers of his own State. The Haryana Congress President, Mr Bhajan Lal, described the MSP as a cruel joke with the farmers. He said it was obvious that the NDA government was anti-farmer because while it was increasing the prices of agricultural inputs, it had not increased the prices of various crops correspondingly. Mr Bhajan Lal also accused Mr Chautala of having failed to protect the interests of the farmers in order to safeguard his own political interests. He said Mr Chautala had earlier announced that Rs 3000 per acre would be given as drought relief, which was later reduced to Rs 1500 per acre. He said it was shameful that in certain cases, the government had given relief which was as low as Rs 2 to Rs 9 per acre. The President of the Haryana Krishak Samaj and former President of the Haryana Congress, Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, described the drought relief of Rs 10 per quintal of wheat as “mere pittance”, which would cause death-knell of the farming community. Mr Surjewala alleged that the decision to maintain last year’s MSP had exposed the unholy nexus of the Vajpayee-Chautala combine with the
blackmarketeers. While Mr Hooda demanded Rs 700 per quintal as the MSP, Mr Bhajan Lal wanted an increase of at least Rs 50 in the MSP. Mr Surjewala wanted Rs 1000 as the MSP. |
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Panel to identify monuments for preservation Karnal, February 14 The decision was taken here today at a committee meeting of district officials chaired by Deputy Commissioner
R. S. Doon. Nearly 32 such monuments of national importance have been identified, while work to locate others is on. According to official information, the committee has identified monuments, including the “Mazaar” of Bu-Ali Shah Kalandar, a Muslim Sufi saint, commanding respect of all communities in Karnal city itself. An annual Urs is held at the “Mazaar”, which is also attended by a large number of people from neighbouring Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi etc. The other monument identified is Salwan Tirth, 40 km from here. It dates back to the Puranic age. Besides, there is also a Buddhist monument, Assandh Stupa, which is reportedly bigger than even the world famous Sanchi Stupa. According to Mr Doon, in Traori, too, an old fort, a witness to Mohammad Gauri’s invasion in 1191, also needs immediate attention. Mr Rajesh Purohit, a curator in the Kurukshetra Development Board, informed that a Seventh century temple, representing Gupta age architecture, in Sitamai village, 25 km from here, has also suffered great damage. The meeting also decided to revive various Melas in the district. Their revival, according to Mr Doon, will go a long way to remind people of their cultural roots. The committee will also undertake steps to remove encroachments and other illegal possessions in various monuments. |
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Teachers
withdraw stir
Chandigarh, February 14 According to Mr Kulbhushan Sharma, general secretary of the
sangh, tomorrow’s proposed rally of teachers here has been cancelled. He told TNS that a seven-member delegation of the sangh met the three-member Rationalisation Review Committee constituted by the state government under the chairmanship of the Finance Minister, Mr Sampat Singh, in his office today. He said the government had accepted the sangh’s demand for reducing the teacher-pupil ratio from 1:60. All those transfers which were in contravention of the transfer policy would be cancelled. The powers to cancel the transfers within the district had been given to the District Education Officers, who would act in consultation with the
sangh. Later the Education Minister, Mr Bahadur Singh, offered juice to the president of the
sangh, Mr Phool Kumar Petwad, who had been observing a fast for the past 16 days. |
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Bar association
flays police action Fatehabad, February 14 A meeting of the District Bar Association was convened today at the instance of 50 lawyers. Senior advocates, Mr Sant Kumar, Mr Devi Lal, Mr
H. S. Sandhu and Mr O. P. Mehta, spoke at the meeting. The speakers condemned the police action terming it as partism. They alleged that the police not only played a
partism role in the incident, but also imposed Section 307 of the IPC without going into the merits of the case. They said the police should have booked the followers of the dera for attacking the manch workers who were exercising their democratic right of building public opinion on an issue. The association demanded that the manch workers should be released immediately and the cases should be reinvestigated by some other officer. It also demanded that the dera followers who attacked the manch workers should be booked. |
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Shiv Saniks fail to dampen love mood Ambala, February 14 The Shiv Sena took out a rally against Valentine’s Day through different markets in Ambala Cantt. The rally started from Teli Mandi, passed through Subzi Mandi, Nicholson Road, Sadar Bazar and culminated at the Shiv Sena office. Addressing the workers, the state unit vice-president of the Shiv Sena, Mr
M.L. Gupta, said the day was against the Indian tradition. He said shopkeepers were spoiling the future of youngsters and urged the people not to take part in such celebrations. However, the youth, particularly those in colleges, took the opportunity to express their love for their beloveds. For the roadside florists, Valentine’s Day meant good business. The price of a rosebud was considerably high during the morning hours. Despite stocking themselves with rosebuds, some of the florists ran out of stock before noon. In some areas, florists charged upto Rs 20 for a good rosebud. This year saw a marked increase in the sales of valentine cards in Hindi. A shopkeeper said compared to previous years, there had been an increase in the sale of cards in Hindi. “The cards expressing love for sweetheart sold like hotcakes. The cards meant for relatives also did well,” he observed. Incidentally, cybercafes in the city seemed to have geared up for the rush. In some of the
cybercafes, additional seating arrangement had been made. |
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V-Day celebrated Kurukshetra, February 14 According to the Principal of the school, Mr P.N. Fotedar, the day coincided with the Class XII farewell party function and the school governing body, under the chairmanship of its president, Mr Pawan Garg, decided to organise a ‘yajna’ on the occasion. Besides remembering the founder of the school, late Om Prakash Garg, the governing body members and school teachers also gave students best wishes for bright future. |
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prisoners escape, probe ordered Sonepat, February 14 Inspector-General of Police (Prisons) Rakesh Malik, talking to reporters here last evening, said the inquiry would be completed within a few days. He said prisoners found to be in excess capacity in the jail would be transferred to the district jails at Gurgaon and Karnal by July-end. The Haryana Services Selection Board had already started recruitment of 1,500 new jail wardens which would tighten the security set-up, he added.
PTI |
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7.22-cr education scheme launched Kurukshetra, February 14 The Additional Deputy Commissioner and Chairman of the Sarav Siksha Abhiyan, while presiding over a meeting of officers of the Education Department, said to give a thrust on elementary education, children between six and 14 years would be ensured compulsory and quality education. The ADC said the main aim of the scheme was to strengthen the education system by providing basic facilities to students. Rs 2,000 would be given to each school as the development fund Rs 500 annually to teachers to provide training material to the students. |
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Govt staff protest on March 2 Hisar, February 14 Mr
M. L. Sehgal, member of the Joint Employees Action Committee, said here today that this decision was taken by the office-bearers of the committee here yesterday. Employees of various departments would wear black arm bands and hold processions in front of their offices at district, block and tehsil levels. He alleged that the Chautala government was closing government departments and retrenching employees without considering their future prospects. |
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Housing
complex inaugurated Hisar, February 14 Mr R.K. Chauhan, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said that the housing complex was spread over 6,600 sq ft. The university had also provided modern equipment at the Physiotherapy Department at a cost of Rs 6 lakh. |
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2 IPS officers shifted Chandigarh, February 14 Mr Sultan Singh, Assistant Commandant, India Reserve Battalion, Bhondsi, has been posted in place of Mr Sanjay Kumar. |
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Engg college to
be set up Chandigarh, February 14 This was disclosed at the first meeting of the Board of Governors of Ch Devi Lal Memorial Technical Education Society, Panniwala
Mota, Sirsa, which took place here today under the chairmanship of Mr Om Prakash Chautala. |
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Budget session Chandigarh, February 14
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